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Windsor Industrial Landowners Urged to Join Registry

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Windsor Star/Dave Hall

Local land owners and developers are being urged to participate in a new provincial program which allows site selectors from across the globe instant access to information about investment ready land across the region.

Launched in August by the provincial government, the investment attraction program provides financial and marketing support to those who complete requirements to enable their available land to be listed on an InvestinOntario.com website.

“We want to see as much area land as possible certified for this program so that when site selectors visit the site, they see a beacon of light shining on it all the way from Windsor-Essex,” said Sandra Pupatello, CEO of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation. “This land must be at least 10 acres in size, zoned for industrial use and if it’s not serviced, there must be a time frame in place for servicing to be completed so that potential investors know instantly what they would be dealing with if they chose to invest locally.”

Certified investment-ready sites would receive provincial funding to help with an international marketing campaign aimed at the site selection community. They would also be promoted as certified sites as part of the Select Ontario geographic information tool and part of any information packages disseminated by government officials at key global real estate, site selection and investment attraction events.

“We filled a room this week with land developers, landowners and municipal officials and all were excited and interested in the program,” said Pupatello.

Criteria for certification include: site ownership by local governments or landowners; a commitment to make the land available for lease; a minimum size of 10 acres; existing public road access; industrial zoning; serviced or can be serviced within six months; and no major development constraints.